Morning business news - Apr 28

CLOUD OVER AER LINGUS ON BIG DAY - Aer Lingus is celebrating 50 years of transatlantic flying. The first US flight left Dublin for New York on this day in 1958. The US ambassador is hosting a special reception for the airline at his residence in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

Asked about the latest SIPTU rejection of the airline's cost-cutting programme, Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion described it as a 'disappointment' and a 'setback'.

But he said his management team was 'absolutely determined' to achieve the cost savings it had proposed and there would be 'no deviation'. SIPTU has a mandate for strike action.

He said management would bring 'innovation and ingenuity' to bear on whatever situation it faced.

Mr Mannion would not comment when asked if the airline would delay implementing any measures until after the busy summer season, but he said the airline would minimise disruption to passengers. He said Aer Lingus had faced the threat of industrial action before, but had lost just one hour in the three years of his tenure.

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The Small Firms Association estimates 8,875 new jobs will be created by the sector this year, around 1,000 more than anticipated this time last year. But this is way off the 50,000 figure for 2006.

SFA director Patricia Callan said it was good news that the sector was creating jobs, but  jobs were being lost much faster - at a rate of 1,300 a week.

Ms Callan said employers were also having problems filling vacancies. She claimed some people were still expecting to be paid too much, compared with the value companies were putting on jobs.

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NEWS AND CURRENCIES - Oil prices have leapt by more than $1 a barrel to a record high near $120 after workers in Britain pushed ahead with a two-day strike.

The strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland shut a major North Sea oil pipeline supplying about half of Britain's oil.

Fresh violence in Nigeria and simmering tensions between the US and oil exporter Iran also helped to offset the impact of a rising US dollar.

US crude rose $1.01 to $119.53, adding to Friday's nearly $2.50 surge and briefly striking a lifetime high of $119.93 a barrel.

Tom Hickey is to resign as chief financial officer of exploration and production company Tullow Oil. He will also leave the board.

A statement from the company said his decision was due to his desire to live full-time in Ireland. Tullow has been growing rapidly in recent years and is now based in London.

The euro is worth $1.5669 and 78.98p sterling.